Is Virtue Practical?

On occasion I read posts on forums for contractors that cast aspersions on businessmen. Those posts say, some more explicitly than others, that successful businessmen are dishonest crooks. I completely disagree with that characterization.

But more significantly, such claims imply that one must choose between virtue and success. According to that thinking, if success is evidence of dishonesty and evil, then poverty and failure are signs of virtue. Again, I completely disagree.

While there are certainly individuals who achieve material success through dishonesty and fraud, they are exceptions. And they are almost always exposed and brought to justice. (See Enron for an example.)

And there are many individuals who are very virtuous and do not achieve material success.

I hold that virtue—honesty, integrity, justice, productiveness, and pride for example—are the only legitimate means to material success. I hold that virtue is indeed practical, if happiness on earth is considered practical (which I do).

Business success is not an easy accomplishment. It takes years and years of hard work. It requires dedication and perseverance. It requires will power and self-motivation. It requires self-confidence. It requires treating others fairly.

A con man lives in the short term. He seeks easy prey. He does not create value, he only seeks to extort it. He lives for today, because tomorrow he needs another victim. And tomorrow he will be hiding from yesterday’s victim.

A businessman lives in the long term. He seeks to build relationships. He creates value for his customers, because that is how he achieves material success. He lives for the future, and delays today’s consumption so that tomorrow may provide a feast. And he stands proudly before the world, with his accomplishments as testimony to his virtue.

© BEP Enterprises Incorporated 2008